Cast
* Camilla Jo-Ann Daries as Baxu * Wafeeq /Narimab as Khata * Anna Louw as Ouma * Robert Hara#gaeb as Neighbour * West Uarije as Himba Tracker * Steven Afrikaner as Main Hunter * Ashwyn Mberi as Voice King RhinoCrew
Directed by: Florian Schott Written by: Florian Schott & Girley Jazama Produced by: Andrew Botelle Co-Produced by: Girley Jazama & Florian Schott Executive Producers: Willem Odendaal (Legal Assistance Centre Namibia) & Clive Johnson (B2Gold Corp.) Director of Photography: Kit Hoffmann Editor: Robert Scott Production Designer: Tanya Stroh Costume Designer / Make-Up Artist: Kulan Games Music Composers: Lize Ehlers, Karl Ehlers & Imms Nicolau Sound Designer: Wojtek Majewski VFX Supervisor: Inna Goroh Production Manager: Girley Jazama First Assistant Director: Fellemon Ndongo Unit Manager: Gerson GawanabSynopsis
Baxu, a 9-year-old girl in touch with nature and tradition but toughened by life in poverty, lives with her street-smart older brother Khata and alcoholic grandmother in a village in Damaraland, North West Namibia. They live a peaceful life until strange men show up and cause change in the village. First the neighbour starts acting suspicious, then Baxu notices changes in her own household. Keen on finding out what Khata is hiding from her, Baxu investigates and learns that her brother started poaching, in order to improve his family's living conditions. Baxu has to make a tough decision - will she stay quiet or will she listen to the rhinos, the giants of the Savannah, who she talks to in her dreams and risk losing the people she loves the most?Production
The 29-minute short fiction film was produced by Andrew Botelle of MaMoKoBo Video and Research and was directed, co-written and co-produced by Florian Schott and co-written and co-produced by Girley Jazama. The two-week production was filmed in Tubuses in the Erongo Region, Torra Conservancy and the interiors in Windhoek, Namibia. It was commissioned by the Legal Assistance Centre of Namibia and funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Germany. The brief was ‘to produce a film that sensitises teenagers about wildlife crime in Namibia' and the film aims to bring light to the ongoing and important issue of rhino poaching in Southern Africa.Release
On 19 September 2019, six months after filming was completed, 'Baxu and the Giants' was launched in Namibia's capital city, Windhoek, with 450 attendees, including VIPs, NGO and Government representatives, business leaders, members of the diplomatic core, members of the general public as well as the cast and crew of the film. B2Gold Namibia funded this VIP premiere in Namibia.Distribution
Once production was complete, the producer team intentionally targeted the international film festival circuit to raise the public profile of the final film and to raise more funding for marketing and distribution. The brief for the film from the Legal Assistance Centre of Namibia was to produce a film intended for rural Namibian audiences as well as audiences in other African countries that have issues with poaching and wildlife conflict - to share experiences. The producer team purposefully formed alliances and partnerships with key Namibian organisations, government departments, businesses and individuals - this ensured that the film was used and distributed by these other individuals and organisations as well. The producer team thus did not have to do all the marketing and distribution of the final film, but were greatly assisted by many other partner organisations. The producer team could then focus on managing and helping others organise film screenings in their own areas for their own audiences. The final film enjoyed the following distribution and (marketing) platforms for different audiences: * Screenings at Ster-Kinekor Grove Mall in the capital city * Free screenings to schools in Windhoek via the LAC mobile screening team * Screenings at B2Gold Education centre via B2Gold Namibia * Legal Assistance Centre mobile cinema screenings in rural areas of North East and North West Namibia * Screenings in Swakopmund via the Scientific Society of Namibia * Ministry of the Environment & Tourism - conferences, workshops and alike * Namibia Film Commission screening as part of the 2019 Namibian Theatre and Film Awards * Mobile cinema tour in Windhoek and North West Namibia by the film producersAwards
The film won multiple international awards, including the award for Best Foreign Narrative at the San Francisco Independent Short Film Festival, three Namibian Theatre- and Film Awards (including Best Female Actor for 10-year-old Camilla Jo-Ann Daries), the award for Best Director at the Dreamanila International Film Festival, three international Cinematography Awards and it was nominated for Best Humanitarian Film at the RapidLion South African International Film Festival and Best Narrative Short Film at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, USA where it was also screened for hundreds of school children.Nominations
NOMINEE Best Humanitarian Film - 2020 RapidLion Awards NOMINEE Best Narrative Short Film - 2020 Pan African Film Festival NOMINEE Best Short Film – 2020 African Movie Academy AwardsOfficial Selection
2019 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Nigeria 2019 AfryKamera African Film Festival, Poland 2019 Wallachia Int’l Film Festival, Romania 2019 NexGn International Short Film Festival, USA 2019Platforms that ‘Baxu and the Giants’ is playing on
Netflix (Worldwide) AfroLandTV (Worldwide excluding Africa) UK Film Channel (Worldwide excluding Africa)‘Baxu and the Giants’ Promotional
To date, the ‘Baxu and the Giants’ film project created the following products: * ‘Baxu and the Giants’ T-shirts * ‘Baxu and the Giants’ DVDS * ‘Baxu and the Giants’ music soundtrack: https://soundcloud.com/user-258696759-944843444 * A new ‘Baxu and the Giants’ Song - “Sada Dî Tama Hâ’: https://soundcloud.com/user-258696759-944843444 * A new ‘Baxu and the Giants’ Music video “Sada Dî Tama HâBe the generation that ends Rhino poaching
For more information on how you can get involved in Rhino Conservation in Namibia please visit these organizations: Namibia Wildlife Protection: https://www.namwildlifeprotect.com/ Rhino Momma Project: https://www.rhinomomma.com/ Save The Rhino Trust Namibia: http://www.savetherhinotrust.org/ Mount Etjo Rhino Trust: https://www.mount-etjo.com/rhino-trust Legal Assistance Centre Namibia: http://www.lac.org.na/References
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* ‘Baxu and the Giants’ website: https://www.baxuandthegiants.com/ 2019 films 2019 short films 2019 drama films 2019 multilingual films Namibian short films Namibian drama films